Bucs stop short in Vogelsong’s stellar comeback

ATLANTA — With less than two months remaining in this season, the Pirates can’t afford to have any more road trips prove to be as frustrating as the one that concluded on Thursday night, when Ryan Vogelsong’s impressive comeback was tarnished by an error that allowed the Braves to score two seventh-inning runs and claim a 5-2 victory.

Jeff Francoeur’s two-out RBI single off Felipe Rivero capped the decisive two-run seventh for the Braves, who have won six of their past nine games. Francoeur would not have been given this opportunity to deliver this game-winner had third baseman Jung Ho Kang not dropped a throw from Rivero after Adonis Garcia was seemingly hung out to dry between second and third base. Garcia scored on the play and made a winner of Tyrell Jenkins, who limited the Pirates to one run despite issuing four walks over six innings.

“We’ve been really aggressive with our baserunning,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Guys are coming out of the box looking for two and taking the extra base and being alert with balls in the dirt. There has been some really good baserunning. Guys aren’t taking any routine ball for granted, and it’s nice to see.”

Making his first start since suffering multiple facial fractures when he was hit by a pitch on May 23, Vogelsong limited the Braves to one run over six innings. The veteran hurler was perfect in five of his six innings and surrendered each of the three hits charged to him during the third inning, which began with Ender Inciarte extending his hitting streak to 15 games with a leadoff single. The Pirates scored two runs or fewer three times while going 1-5 during this six-game road trip that began in Milwaukee.

“I thought we hit a number of balls hard, but we still weren’t able to connect dots and plate runs,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Actually, we hit the ball very well early. The first two double plays we hit into, both balls were directly at people, hard. But the continuity of the at-bats, just stringing some of those together, we haven’t been able to do that.”

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

From “Oh, no” to “Go, go go!”: With runners at first and second and one out in the seventh inning, Garcia took off for third base as Rivero came set from the stretch. The left-handed reliever’s throw easily beat Garcia, but Kang didn’t secure …

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